Local Consumer Marketing: How Big Brands Can Appeal to Neighborhood Niches

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In order to reach the growing market of mainstream-averse consumers, big businesses have been looking towards improving local consumer marketing by unbranding themselves.

There has been a major shift towards radical rebranding in order to combat the decrease in brand loyalty and win over anti-mainstream consumers that were previously out of reach. Starbucks has recently opened up a series of specialty styled coffee shops that blend into the local environment, enticing customers who are skeptical of big brand coffee chains. The President of Starbucks Global Development explains, “Once that connection to our mission statement, our soul if you will, was established, that became the go-forward design foundation for our stores, along with one additional very important element, and that is being locally relevant.” The goal is to continue increasing the presence of Starbucks without making it obvious. By shifting focus towards niche neighborhood demand, Starbucks is answering a need for more individuality in an increasingly logo-averse market.

Removing the ever-present brand logo from merchandise packaging is also a great method of maintain your existing loyal consumer base. During times of recession, unbranding can be especially useful when you have consumers who still want to purchase high-end products but are wary of others who may view them as being pretentious. In 2009, the online luxury retail shop Net-A-Porter encouraged discreet consumerism by offering customers the option of having their goods packaged in brown paper bags that didn't feature any blatant logos. This tactic not only emboldened their clientele to continue their spending habits, but also promoted a new status of "brown bag luxury," and thus managed to increase customer sales during a financial crisis.

If you are looking towards brand reinvention for your business, consider focusing on local consumer marketing and unbranding in order to renew your image and finally attain that elusive clientele that runs away from overt advertisement.